Jumbo Rider’s BodyBlog

My first office party has just ended.  I stayed with fresh veggies and a couple of pieces of pineapple.  Unfortunately we played gift bingo using M&M’s.  I just couldn’t put the candy back and felt guilty about dumping it so I ate about 9 M&M’s.   Not bad really for a Christmas party.

I see many of my competition are getting their plan of attack together for the 2008 Transformation.  Here is my basic plan.

Until December 26th I will simply continue doing what I have been doing.  I won’t change anything up until then.  The Blood Type Diet lists foods by blood type as either ‘avoid’, ‘neutral’, ‘Beneficial’, and ‘Superbeneficial’ for diabetes or cancer.  My diet today consists of neutral and beneficial foods with protein and vegetable every 3 hours.  I have not had any grains for 5 weeks and do not plan to eat grains until after I have lost all my weight.  Even after losing all of my weight i will eat grains rarely.  The reason?  I just feel so much better without the grains.

Beginning the 26th I will eat the majority of my foods from the beneficial list. I do not know how much of a difference it will make in my weight loss, but it can not hurt.  I will also begin a new supplementation protocol that I will list on the 26th.  I am not hiding what I will be doing, but I need to leave some mystery.

My current training is swimming 3x a week for 30 minutes and actively working around the house.  Starting the 26th I will be incorporating many bodyweight exercises and band training.  I will also walk a few steps more every day.  Yes, I will be using a simple pedometer and if it does not beat the day before at the end of a day I will walk.

I look at the work Stonecoldtruth and Daretosoar are writing up and I feel far outclassed. The simple truth is that I am competing to achieve a transformation and need to do what is best for my body, not theirs.

Age is a funny thing.  You never notice that you are ‘old’ unless you are comparing yourself to someone younger.  I am the old man of the transformation group.  I am 6 years older than the next oldest competitor.  It will be interesting to see how my body handles the stress compared to my fellow contestants.

Music

Please send me the titles of your best workout music and why you like it.  I have a few songs that I like, but I need some more.

Yesterday was tough.  A critical family issue transpired that left me very, very down.  In the past it would have been enough to start me binging and eating crap.  Today I am just fine.  My nutrition remains solid and I never really considered jumping off the wagon and into a cliff.  BB.COM has a bit to do with my changed attitude, but I also don’t want to stop feeling the good feeling I have today.  Eating right makes you feel right.

If I could pass one piece of wisdom to people wanting to be healthy it would be this; eat your vegetables.  I am not talking about the slice of lettuce on your burger or even that Iceburg lettuce salad you had for lunch.   At every meal eat 2-3 servings of a variety of vegetables.  Try it, you will feel better.

Ok, a few posts earlier I was crowing about my low 93 blood glucose (bg).  The next day my fasting BG was 173.  What is up with that?  There is a process referred to as the Dawn Affect.  An hour or two prior to waking up you body prepares for the day by releasing stored glucose from the liver into the blood stream.  For diabetics like me that poses a problem.

As a diabetic my body does not utilize insulin properly so that bg just floats around in my blood.  The best thing I can do in the short term is to eat a protein/fat breakfast early and to exercise early.

11/14/2007 was the last day I ate wheat or corn.  I am 5 days dietary clean and sober.

I am not on a low-carb diet.  I eat all of the vegetables I want and a couple of apples a day.   Grains are avoided and so are potatoes for the time being.  My body feels good.  My cravings have subsided.  The cravings are gone unless I fail to eat.  Then my body wants food and it wants in now.  Moral of the story is don’t miss meals.
1. spinach, onion, mushroom omelet

2. 4 oz hamburger 1 cup of carrots

3. 3 oz turkey sausage 1 cup of spinach salad

4. 1 cup cottage cheese + 1 oz of nuts

5. 8 oz steak + spinach salad + 1 cup cottage cheese

Food Today:

1 cup cottage cheese + 1 oz almonds + 1 large apple

4 oz tuna + 2 cups salad (lettuce, onion, mushroom, balsamic vinegar, olive oil)

4 oz tuna + 1 cup of carrots

1 cup yogurt +apple +1 cup carrots

4 oz turkey + 1 cup acorn squash + 1 cup cottage cheese

It was like I was a 12th century scientist being told the earth was actually round when Coach introduced me to the concept of the blood type diet.  You can be assured that the concept of eating according to my blood type seems ludicrous to me. But I enlisted the services of Coach because he knows a great deal and will follow the blood type diet to the best of my ability.  Today is the first day of being clean according to this diet.

You can find some information about the blood type diet here and here .

Beyond not eating the ‘avoid’ food for my blood type, I am also eliminating carbohydrates  other than vegetables (no potato) and a small amount of fruit.  I will be eating per the PN system of meals every 3 hours consisting of protein and vegetables.

In the end it is eating good whole foods with just a few more restrictions.

My exercise for the next week will simply be swimming for 30 minutes at a continuous and strenuous clip and being active around the house.

Breakfast - 1 cup oatmeal, 2 oz almonds, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup fresh baby carrots and broccli

Walk - 30 minutes

The walk may not sound like much to you studs out there, but it is significant enough to get a good sweat for me at this time.  I will walk for 30 more tonight and lift.

Veggies for breakfast?  Yep, strange to me too.  If it is not onions, mushrooms, or peppers in an omelet I didn’t do veggies.   Hashbrowns don’t count.  I was following several posts in the nutrition forum that led me to John M Berardi and his Precision Nutrition 2.0 plan.  His general attitude and guide to eating healthy fell in line with what I am trying to do.  I decided to buy his plan and will give it 8 months of dedicated work.  That should be a fair test of the program, and by the end of 8 months it should be a habit.  I will keep you all posted here.

One of the things that Dr. Berardi advocates is veggies at each meal.  While   I have not yet received the PN 2.0 books, I have decided to incorporate veggies into each of my meals now.  Frankly, veggies are not the first thing I think of when someones asks me what I want to eat.  That must change.  If the best mineral and vitamins I can get are from food I had better up my veggie intake.  I think Dr. Berardi has some scientific reasons beyond this though when he advises veggies at each meal.